Debate arises on DHS and vote security

WASHINGTON — A top White House official told Kirstjen Nielsen, then Homeland Security secretary, not to bring up election security with President Donald Trump, according to two people familiar with the matter.

One official said the guidance from acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney wasn’t related to the sensitivity of the 2016 election interference issue, but to keep the White House meetings concentrated on border security, the most visible part of Nielsen’s sprawling portfolio and the top item on Trump’s political agenda.

Despite the lack of White House coordination, Nielsen continued to work on election and cybersecurity with other administration officials, according to people familiar with the matter.

They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss private meetings.

Mulvaney said in a statement he did not recall any meetings in which he told Nielsen not to bring up election security, and stressed the topic was very important.

Trump signed an executive order last fall authorizing sanctions against foreigners who meddle in U.S. elections and requested

$17.6 billion for federal cybersecurity efforts next year in his budget. Mulvaney added that federal, state and local governments are now sharing intelligence and federal authorities are conducting security breach training drills.

Garrett Marquis, spokesman for the White House’s National Security Council, said any suggestion that the administration is giving less “than a full-throated effort to secure America’s elections” was patently false.

“National Security Council staff leads the regular and continuous coordination of the whole-of-government approach to addressing foreign malign influence and ensuing election security,” he said.